Content - Volume 74, Issue 1

The skin barrier primarily protects the body against uncontrolled loss of water and in addition prevents water and matter of the environment from indiscriminately entering the living system. The current concept of the skin barrier suggests that permeability is governed by a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic "channel". To account both for the barrier function and the hydrophilic and hydrophobic pathway ...

A method was developed to measure in vitro on human skin the effectiveness of barrier creams against three dyes (eosin, methyl-violet and oil red O) with different n-octanol/water partition coefficients (0.19, 29.8 and 165, respectively). Some galenic properties (water washability, water content and viscosity) of the products were also evaluated to try to understand the mechanisms of such a protec ...

Two occlusive, adhesive dressings--one hydrocolloid (absorptive) and one zinc-medicated (non-absorptive)--were studied regarding their occlusivity and effects when applied to normal human skin for 48 h. Both dressings reduced normal transepidermal water loss by about 70%. As documented by a 7-fold increase in the water loss beneath the dressings compared to untreated skin, water was retained in th ...

A single large dose of UVA induced an intense infiltration of neutrophils into the lower dermis of hairless mouse skin, peaking at 24 h. The ability of 15 name brand topical corticosteroids to suppress this infiltrate was determined. The rank order of suppression correlated with the accepted clinical category of anti-inflammatory potency. This is a rapid screening procedure for assaying the anti-i ...

The hairless mouse model of a UVA-induced dermal neutrophilic infiltrate was used to compare the efficacy of equal concentrations of name brand versus generic corticosteroids. The generic brand was significantly less effective in suppressing the inflammatory response.

Defective interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) production has been suggested to be relevant to immunologic abnormalities observed in atopic dermatitis (AD). We describe two patients with severe AD who were treated with oral cyclosporin A (Cy-A) and in whom the serum levels of IL-1 alpha, IFN-gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) were sequentially measured. Cy-A, known to inhibit IFN-gamma prod ...

The murine local lymph node assay is a new predictive test for identifying contact sensitizers. It measures the proliferative response in the lymph nodes during the sensitization phase. In the present study, moderate-to-extreme allergens (from human and guinea pig experience) gave clearly positive results in this assay. However, irritants tested, i.e. sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), chloroform/meth ...

A study of the histopathological abnormalities in a case of alopecia universalis was accompanied by immunohistochemical analysis of the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and E-selectin (formerly known as endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1) within the skin. ICAM-1 expression on follicular epithelium co-localized with intraepithelial mononuclear cells (MNC) positive for ...

The luminal cell layer of acrosyringia contains heterogeneous globular keratohyalin granules, some of which contain basophilic and eosinophilic components. Using immunoelectron microscopy we found that the majority of the granules, which are basophilic, are strongly reactive to an anti-filaggrin antibody, while the minority, which are eosinophilic, are not. Similar heterogeneous keratohyalin granu ...

Dermal dendrocytes constitute the largest population among cells of dermatofibromas. In other histiocytic tumours, the exact nature of histiocytic cells is not known. We have searched for the presence of dermal dendrocytes in juvenile xanthogranulomas. The immunohistochemical study was performed on 9 juvenile xanthogranulomas. We used monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies: anti-XIIIa, HAM56, anti-S1 ...

Cryostat sections of 20 clinical condylomata of the vulva induced by human papillomavirus and 5 normal control biopsies were examined using immunohistochemistry. The results indicated that in vulvar papillomavirus infection the intraepithelial Langerhans' cells showed abnormal morphology and a significantly lower density than controls. CD1a positive Langerhans' cells were also observed in dermis o ...

A strong correlation has been found between carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity and fenestrations in juxtaepithelial capillaries of several tissues, including psoriatic lesions of human skin. In the present study we demonstrate that the majority of the capillaries in cherry hemangiomas are fenestrated and histochemically react CA positively. Obviously the occurrence of CA in these capillaries corresp ...

The ability of dithranol and 10-butyryl dithranol to induce morphological cell transformation was studied in cultured C3H 10T1/2 C18 fibroblasts. The cells were incubated with different concentrations of the test compounds for 48 h and cultured for 5 weeks thereafter. At the end of the culture period the cultures were fixed, stained and examined for the presence of transformed foci. Dithranol and ...

Cutaneous vasculitis has been reported as a complication of pustular psoriasis but not of plaque type psoriasis. In the past 5 years we have observed 3 patients who in the course of their psoriasis developed cutaneous vasculitis. Two of these patients also had severe psoriatic arthropathy and were on etretinate during the onset of vasculitis. However, there was no deterioration or recurrence of va ...

Granuloma faciale is a relatively rare skin disorder with a chronic course. In many cases treatment of granuloma faciale is difficult. In the present report the beneficial effect of dapsone in this condition is described

The authors present a rare case of mycosis fungoides with early central nervous system involvement mimicking an intramedullary tumour in a 38- year-old white male.

The clinical diagnosis of Hallopeau's acrodermatitis (HA) restricted to nail and digital pulp may be difficult, and even dermatologists often fail to recognize this condition. The aim of this study was to review the clinical and pathological features of 20 patients, observed over a period of 5 years (1988-1993), who were affected by HA limited to the nails. Our study shows that HA of the nail unit ...

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are common yet occult eating disorders which each affect between 1 and 2% of young adult women in the UK (1). Cutaneous signs may provide valuable clues allowing earlier diagnosis. Eating disorders may both imitate (Table I) and complicate other medical illnesses, resulting in unnecessary and expensive investigations. Organic diseases that may be complicated by ...

Abstract Eleven patients with mycosis fungoides had X-ray examinations of their lungs before, during and after topical treatment with mechlorethamine. The mean number of treatments was 163, ranging from 28 to 300 treatments within a period of 1 to 13 years (mean 7.8 years). Each exposure to the skin of mechlorethamine was between 20 and 40 mg giving a cumulative dosage in the range from 1.120 mg ...